The management of Guddu Thermal Power Plant has requested the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources for an additional 224 Million Cubic Feet per Day (MMCFD) of natural gas in the coming months so that it can operationalise old rehabilitated units and add 431 Megawatts (MW) of electricity to the system. Sources in the Ministry told Business Recorder here on Tuesday that the company in a written letter to the Petroleum Ministry has requested for 96 MMCFD of gas on emergency basis, 91 MMCFD in July and 37 MMCFD in October.
According to the ministry officials, the company is seeking additional gas for its rehabilitated power units 9, 11 and 12. The rehabilitated units are operating far below the efficiency level as by utilising 224 MMCFD of gas the company will produce a maximum 431 MW of electricity while an efficient unit utilising the same quantity of gas would generate 1,120 MW to 1,344 MW of electricity.
The officials revealed that Guddu thermal power plant is defaulting to the tune of Rs 16 billion to Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) and the PPL management has repeatedly requested the Ministry of Water and Power to release the outstanding amount. Sources said that the management of Guddu power plant wants to increase power production capacity of the plant from 1320 MW to 1751 MW within four months. The officials said that the Minister for Petroleum, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has made it clear to the Ministry of Water and Power that his ministry will not provide any additional gas to inefficient plants, arguing that gas supply to a number of efficient power plants will not only reduce the cost of power but will generate additional power by utilising lower quantity of gas.
Sources said that Guddu power plant is consuming a total of 274 MMCFD of gas of which 200 MMCFD is being supplied by the PPL and the rest is from Mari Petroleum Limited. The company's gas sales purchase agreement of 150 MMCFD with the PPL recently expired and the Petroleum Ministry has linked renewal of agreement with full utilisation of allocated gas as well as clearing of outstanding dues of the PPL. According to the officials, the government should not allocate gas supply to old plants, arguing that it is just waste of precious natural resource.
"Guddu power plant has 13 units with an overall efficiency of just 29%. The efficiency of four oldest plants is around 22 percent, while the efficiency level of the best units is around 50 percent. Using 274 MMCFD of gas for generating 815 MW of electricity means gross under utilisation of fast depleting natural resources," sources added. They said that Guddu units 1-4 consume 111 MMCFD gas and produce 244 MW at an efficiency of 22%. Units 5-10, combined cycle units consume 110 MMCFD of gas and generate 358 MW of electricity at 32.5% efficiency. Units 11-13, also combined cycle, consume 53 MMCFD gas to generate 213 MW are the most efficient at 40% efficiency.
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